I have a 17” 1Ghz iMac G4 running 10.4.11 Tiger. From what I understand, this machine can't run MAC OS natively so it requires an emulator.I’m trying to set up Basilisk to it, never done this thing before.I downloaded the latest version of Basilisk that’s compatible with these older OS X.I found several candidates for MAC OS system images and ROMs.Eventually I ended up to the redundant robot website and got the Performa ROM and the System7 image from there, placing both of them to the Basilisk folder unzipped. I have the floppy file set, and I unpacked the first part of it that doesn’t contain “part” in its name. I assumed that this would be the set of the most basic things that you’ll need.

At some point of configuring I encountered some kind of error and decided to rename the Basilisk folder to just BasiliskII because earlier (straight after unzipping), it had spaces in the name and those wouldn’t be too nice in the Unix Path because spaces have to be escaped with an inverse slash \ and I found no simple way to type it into the GUI app. I did this as the last thing, so when I tried to start the process, Basilisk gave me some error messages so I decided to restart it. Now whenever I launch the GUI app, all the settings are there again, and the paths in the ‘volumes’ tab keep reappearing, with the old path name that contains spaces. If I remove the items from the list and quit the GUI app, launching it again and they’ve all come back. If I try to start the process, it says that it can’t open the ROM file. Sometimes when I try to remove the volumes from the list, Basilisk simply crash-quits. I deleted the GUI app and Basilisk, then replaced them by new ones from a zip file but the settings are still there. I can’t figure out where that data is stored because I couldn’t find anything on it in the library folder either.

How do I reset and empty all of the settings in Basilisk in order to start over?

1. The settings file is a hidden file ".basilisk_ii_prefs" in your home folder.

You can open and edit the file in your default text editor by running in Terminal:

Code:

open ~/basilisk_ii_prefs

You can clear the settings (delete the prefs file) by running in Terminal

Code:

rm ~/basilisk_ii_prefs

2. The paths in the GUI and in the prefs file can contain spaces.

3. What do you need MacOS for? In MacOSX 10.4 (Tiger) on a G4 Mac, even when that Mac cannot boot MacOS as such, most Classic MacOS applications can be run seamlessly in MacOSX using the Classic Environment. The Classic Environment can be enabled when MacOS 9.2.2 is installed next to MacOSX.

10.4 Tiger was the last version to support Classic Mode. I know for sure as I installed 10.4 on a G3 Mac running Mac Write II in Classic. My father used it until the machine's power supply broke a few years ago.

10.4 Tiger was the last version to support Classic Mode. I know for sure as I installed 10.4 on a G3 Mac running Mac Write II in Classic. My father used it until the machine's power supply broke a few years ago.

That's what I get for thinking

Xlr8yourmac.com has an old guide on how to convert an ATX PC power supply for use with G4 sawtooth machines, I think it's the same for G3 B&W mini-towers, but it won't fit the case. Beige G3's, I believe used the same pinout as a standard PC ATX power supply.

If you still have the old G3, you can use an ATX extension cable, and mod it, rather than the cable of the PC Power supply, to get an old G3 B&W running again.

(1&2)3. What do you need MacOS for? In MacOSX 10.4 (Tiger) on a G4 Mac, even when that Mac cannot boot MacOS as such, most Classic MacOS applications can be run seamlessly in MacOSX using the Classic Environment. The Classic Environment can be enabled when MacOS 9.2.2 is installed next to MacOSX.

Thank, I'll try that reset!

Oh I see. Well I only obtained the iMac some weeks ago and have been setting it up. I have never had a model that would support both OS X and MacOS before, so frankly I've just been confused by the terminology. I'm having trouble finding any clear or official instructions on how to do the entire process from start to finish, and as someone who has no idea of how it works, eavesdropping on forum posts where people are merely talking about bits and pieces, it doesn't give me a good full picture of what's going on. Somehow I get the image that you can't install OS 9 if you've already installed OS X, is that so?

As far as I know, I don't absolutely need MacOS for anything; I'm just feeling nostalgic and upon realizing that I might be able to run old software and get all sorts of curious abandonware so easily, I'd like to enable the possibility. I just wonder if 9.2.2 is too recent for software that was made for System 7 and abandoned soon after.

Ps. What are some "opening this disk may damage your computer: open / don't open" notifications that I get from trying to mount some images of old OSs or software?

I have seen the warning quite frequently with recent OSX flavours "opening this disk may damage your computer: open / don't open".I think this pops up when the OS does not like outdated data containers.So far, no damage was done on my side.

MacOS 9 will run a gerat bunch of software made for OS 7.Some apps may not run with Apple´s Classic environment in 10.4. Thats where the emulators may help.Besides Basilisk II there is MiniVMacII, emulating a Mac II as the name indicates.MiniVMacII can run OS from System 6 to 7.5, so it will cover really old 24bit address coded stuff too.

Depending on the type of "Lamp" you got, some 2002 iMac G4, PowerMac 4.2 and 4.5 do run 9.2.2 or 10.4 alternatively.If you have a matching lamp, this should be your boot disk: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os- ... mac-g4-mddNote that your HDD has to be formatted with the OS9 drivers included to boot 9.2.2.

IMacOS 9 will run a gerat bunch of software made for OS 7.Some apps may not run with Apple´s Classic environment in 10.4. Thats where the emulators may help.Besides Basilisk II there is MiniVMacII, emulating a Mac II as the name indicates.MiniVMacII can run OS from System 6 to 7.5, so it will cover really old 24bit address coded stuff too.

Depending on the type of "Lamp" you got, some 2002 iMac G4, PowerMac 4.2 and 4.5 do run 9.2.2 or 10.4 alternatively.If you have a matching lamp, this should be your boot disk: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os- ... mac-g4-mddNote that your HDD has to be formatted with the OS9 drivers included to boot 9.2.2.

Should be this 17” 1Ghz.I think my iMac can not boot to OS9, but is the last model to support the classic environment.

Is there any way to check if the drivers are already installed? Or never mind, it probably wouldn't even launch if the drivers weren't there...

Anyhow, I moved the System Folder to the hard disk and rebooted. Classic seems to start up, but I'm not sure if it's working correctly, it feels confusing: Classic can't change desktop image from its settings, nothing happens, I keep seeing the Tiger desktop with those icons on it, and the dock. The color space changes to 256 colors which I assume to be a good thing. But it feels very confusing when sometimes the top menu is of Tiger, sometimes of OS9, and the window styles mix too. I tested a few games and they're definitely looking so wonky and unresponsive that they're unplayable, video wise. Is this what it's supposed to be like?

You will see the Tiger desktop always, also when in Classic Environment. That is the way Classic Environment integrates with OSX. The menu bar and window style will indeed change between OS9 style and OSX style, depending on the application that is running in front.

Many games should run fine, but for old 68k games you may want to try BasiliskII or Mini vMac.

Okay. Well I think the constantly changing layout is a bit too restless for me, I like calm and uniform environments, and an important factor in the nostalgia is to get to experience the OS just like it used to be.

I tested a game that I used to play on our first computer that we had, all I can tell is that it was an all in one PPC Performa with a quite straight and tall profile from the front, and it was probably from 1996. Chicago font, 2D trash can icon, no dock or whatever the version of it at the time was called. Judging by pictures that I can find, it probably was system 7.5. Shouldn't a game that ran on that run in Classic Environment as well? Or does the visual glitch have something to do with QuickTime or other extension?

Oh thank goodness SwitchResX is old software, I should definitely get it to the iMac too so I can make the screen size fit a small resolution without having to stretch it to fill the whole area.

I was once the proud owner of a 1995 5300 PPC Performa, with 100MHz 603e, 1,2 GB storage (wow!), 4xCD-ROM, and TV tuner. It came with MacOS 7.5.1 installed. Started with 12 MB memory, soon needed more.

A game that ran on such a machine should normally run fine also in the Classic Environment on a faster G4. After all, "Classic" uses virtualisation on PPC, not emulation. Is the game a 68k or a PPC application? If you want to try the emulators, you could try BasiliskII (the 4 October 2009 build) for 68k software or SheepShaver (the 25 October 2009 build) for PPC software. The emulators will give you a stable visual experience but I expect most PPC software to run better in the Classic Environment than in SheepShaver.